Cash-strapped Birmingham single-mum Clare Bache says life is a constant battle to make ends meet.

The unemployed 38-year-old, of Erdington, who has seven children, says she already struggles financially to raise her large brood, and now she fears her family could be made homeless when her £2,600-a-month benefits are slashed by £600 to £2,000.

The reduction is the result of a benefits cap being introduced by the government, which will see a limit being put on the amount people can claim in benefits.

Clare says her house was repossessed five years ago after she struggled to keep up with the mortgage repayments following her separation from her husband, who is father to six of her children – Huey, six, Anthony, eight, Luke, 10, Jasmine, 12, Katrina 15, and 17-year-old Charlotte.

Clare, who has not been able to get a council house, uses housing benefits to pay £725-a-month for her privately rented six-bedroom house, which she shares with all her children, including youngest Charlie Ali, aged two.

Now she claims that when her benefits are capped, which will happen at some time between July 15 and September 30, she will no longer be able to afford her rent.

“I’ve sought advice and been told that my only choice will be to declare myself homeless when it happens as there’s no way I will be able to pay the rent and my other bills,” says Clare, who has an “on and off relationship” with Charlie’s father. “The fact that I don’t know whether I will be able to put a roof over my children’s heads in a month’s time is incredibly stressful.

“I feel like there’s a dark cloud hovering over us and the future looks very bleak.”

It comes after Clare had to turn to charity Birmingham Citizen’s Advice Bureau (BCAB) for help last October after struggling to keep up with her rising energy bills.

“Gas and electricity bills already cripple me and I just don’t know how I will cope when my benefits are cut,” says Clare. “I will have to shop around. I won’t be able to get all my groceries from a supermarket because it will cost too much.”

Clare says coping on her own is tough, especially as Luke suffers from behavioural problems, while Katrina has arthritis and Charlie has been diagnosed with debilitating condition Guillain-Barré syndrome.

She said she fears she will also have to give up her car, which she uses to ferry her children to medical appointments.

Meanwhile, Clare – who has to spend over £500 a year alone on school uniforms – said her children will suffer in other ways.

“I won’t be able to afford school trips for them anymore, it’s going to be impossible,” she adds.

The benefits cap is one of a series of cuts to the welfare system being introduced this year in the government’s bid to save more than £83billion to get the UK’s economy on the road to recovery.

Tories claim benefits form more almost a quarter of UK residents’ income and believe they have resulted in a “sorry story of dependency, wasted taxpayers’ money and fraud”.

Meanwhile, organisations such as BCAB are being deluged with calls for help by worried and baffled residents who are left struggling on the back of the cuts.

A spokeswoman for the charity, said she fears advisers will be inundated with calls when the new universal credit is rolled out across the nation from October.

The new credit will replace a raft of benefits – from jobseeker’s allowance to income support – with one single payment in a move the government claims will simplify the system.

The spokeswoman added: “We support a simplified benefits system, which makes it clear that work pays and provides an essential safety net, but the success of universal credit will be in its implementation. We are keeping a watchful eye to make sure it truly delivers on its promises and will sound the alarm bell if we identify problems.

“Such a radical overhaul of the benefit system will not be without teething problems and we have concerns that weekly to monthly payments, direct housing benefit payments and making payments to households rather than individuals will be a significant and in some cases unmanageable shift for families on tight budgets.”

How these benefit cuts could affect you

Child Benefit

As of last January, if both you and your partner earn under £50,000 a year you will keep all of your child benefit payments. However, if either you or your partner earn over £60,000 you will lose child benefit in full.

If one of you earns between £50,000 and £60,000 you will lose one per cent of your child benefit payments for every £100 you earn above the £50,000 threshold.

Council Tax Benefit

Council Tax Benefit was axed in April. Instead, people can apply for a council tax reduction, whether they own their home, rent, are unemployed or working. How much of a reduction you get depends on where you live, including, savings, pension and children.

Disability Living Allowance

This allowance was cut in some parts of the country in April and will be slashed across the country from this month – being replaced by the personal independence payment for working people aged 16 to 64.

It involves as more rigorous assessment – including a face-to-face consultation with an independent health professional and regular reviews – to see who is eligible to get it.

Housing Benefit

The controversial so-called “bedroom tax” was introduced in April. It sees the former “spare room subsidy” being removed from housing benefits for working age people who rent council or social housing.

People in housing larger than they need must move or make up the difference in rent by 14 per cent if they under-occupy by one bedroom or by 25 per cent if they under-occupy by two or more bedrooms. Those of pension credit age will not be affected by the changes.

Social Fund Reform

Crisis loans and community care grants have been abolished.

Previously, those in need could turn to the fund, which offered loans averaging about £50 to overcome short-term financial crises.

The changes mean that those in need now face widely varying offers of support from local authorities, depending on where they live.

Tax Credits

If someone has a rise in income of £5,000 or more it could now see a reduction in their tax credits. Previously there would have needed to have been a rise in £10,000.

Benefit Cap

A limit will be put on the total amount of benefit that most people aged 16 to 64 can get. Councils will be introducing this between July 15 and September 30.

It will limit benefits to £350 per week for a single adult with no children and £500 per week for a couple or lone parent, regardless of the number of children they have.

Universal Credit

This will see one payment replacing a host of benefits – including jobseeker’s allowance; employment and support allowance; income support; child tax credits; working tax credits and housing benefit. It will be rolled out gradually from this October.